TV Losing Ground To Video Games Among Young Adults

If you thought that new media is the only thing that diverts attention away from traditional media today – think again. Video gaming is a well-established medium that continues to compete with TV, especially among 18 to 24 year-olds.

Examining weekly trend data from Experian Simmons DataStream, we found that in the past year alone, there has been a 65% relative increase in the share of young adults who believe that video games are more entertaining than television. In fact, as of September 27, 2010, more than a quarter of 18 to 24 year-olds (28%) agreed that video games were more entertaining than TV.

Furthermore, one-in-five 18 to 24 year-olds (21%) today spend more time playing video games than watching TV, a relative increase of 48% in the past year. Many games remain split with 14% of 18 to 24 year-olds watching TV while playing video games, up just slightly from this same time last year.

This trend is noticeably more pronounced among young men, but women are closing the gap. Simmons DataStream shows that 37% of 18 to 24 year-old men find video games more entertaining than TV, compared with 10% of women the same age. However, during the past year, the share of young women who find video games more entertaining has increased by 65% compared to a 59% increase observed among young males.

This trend may be driven, at least in part, by the proliferation devices that support video games, including smart phones and tablet PCs.

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